Conventionally, as an input device for allowing a user to input a command and information using his/her finger and the like based on information displayed on a display screen such as a display, devices are disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. These devices each capture a touch panel operation surface by grid matrix type scanning means or a camera, extract a hand shape portion from the acquired data, and display a composite image of the hand shape portion and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and the like displayed on a display. Based on the above-described structure, the user can, without once moving the line of sight to a touch panel installed remotely from the display screen and seeing the touch panel with his/her own eyes while driving, input the command and the information while viewing the image of an operating finger virtually displayed on the display screen.
Additionally, by using the devices disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the hand shape of the user may be acquired by pattern matching from an image captured by the camera, and thus it is possible to allow the user to operate the device after the hand shape of the user is recognized as a hand shape, and also it is possible to interpret the user input by sensing a gesture which is time-varying patterns of the hand shape and the hand position of the user.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-77622    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-6687